The Recursive Mind: The Origins of Human Language, Thought, and Civilization

by Michael C. Corballis

The Recursive Mind challenges the commonly held notion that language is what makes us uniquely human. In this compelling book, Michael Corballis argues that what distinguishes us in the animal kingdom is our capacity for recursion: the ability to embed our thoughts within other thoughts.

Evolutionary psychology.
Human evolution.
Brain -- Evolution.
Language and languages -- Origin.

Genres: Psychology, Science, Nonfiction, Linguistics, Language, Philosophy, Anthropology

291 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[/d. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title suggests, Corballis writes about the origins of human language and thought as specifically related to the human ability to think and speak recursively. By recursion, Corballis speaks about a process that "takes its own output as the next input, a loop that can be extended indefinitely" and that can be understood both as a process or as a structure. Related terms that linguists might use to refer to the same principle are embedding or nestedness, though Corballis stresses that recursion should be differentiated from both repetition and iteration in that recursion does not simply describe an infinite loop where we always return to the exact same point as before. Rather, recursion might be thought of as a downward spiral whereby every downward turn presupposes and includes the preceding ones. Fundamentally, Corballis also puts forward the hypothesis that recursion in language stems from our faculty for recursive thinking and not vice versa as e.g. the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis so famously postulated.

On the evolution of language in general Corballis writes:

"Today's morphology is yesterday's syntax." The story that is beginning to emerge, then, is that language does not appear fully formed in different cultures as a product of universal grammar, but comes about gradually as a prodcut of culture and accumulated experience, and a practical concern to make communication more efficient. That is, it grammaticalizes itself.

[Language might therefore] depend not so much on what Steven Pinker, echoing Chomsky's notion of universal grammar, called "the language instinct" as on what has been termed an "instinct for inventiveness," coupled with a drive toward incresed efficiency."

[...] Morten Christiansen and Nick Chater, in an influential article, suggest that the sheer diversity of languages, and the rapidity with which they change, mean that language adapted to the brain, rather than the brain adapting to language. That adaptation, more over, must have depended on mental functions that were not themselves primarily linguistic, and that were heavily influenced by environmental factors such as culture and geography.

[...] Any principles underlying language can be regarded as principles of human thought, and not specific to language. Even recursion appears not to be universal, and may be absent in many indigenous languages. (p.33-34)

Corballis proceeds to speak about differences in language usage between humans and other primates and illustrates the importance of mirror neurons for language (primarily due to neurological proximity). The book proceeds to talk about memory and our mind's ability to both relive the past and anticipate the future, both of which form important aspects of language acquisition and usage. We arrive at a discussion of the difference between knowing and remembering, that is between semantic and episodic memory, a research field that is well-established for humans but of which Corballis writes that "the critical distinction between knowing and remembering is actually very difficult to test in nonhuman species. In humans, at least, mental time travel implies the conscious acting out of episodes, whether past or future, which further suggests recursion."
Corballis therefore argues for the importance of recursion for remembering as well as any other form of "mental time travel" and goes on to claim that that might be one of the factors that differentiates humans from nonhumans: our increased recursive capactities:

Language may have evolved precisely so that we can share our mental travels through time, and the absence of language in other species may stem from the absence of mental time travel itself. (p.113)

The remainder of the book basically deals with the recursivity of the human mind and our languages. Here Corballis writes: "We saw [that] some languages, such as that of the Piraha, may not make use of recursion. The prior significance of recursion may therefore lie, not in language itself, but rather in the nature of human thought that guides language and supplies much of its content" (p.180). It's all pretty well summoned in the very end of the book:

It is sometimes suggested that technology is the key to human evolution. To be sure, the marvels of modern technology seem to be the most distinctive marks of humanity on the planet. No other species has so transformed the physical environment, almost to the point of self.destruction. Recursive technology was certainly critical in the evolution of modernity, and indeed postmodernity, but it is not really a human universal. It varies hugely across different peoples on the planet - some cultures have largely retained a hunter-gatherer style of living, with relatively undeveloped technologies, but they are nevertheless fully modern with respect to language and social intelligence. This suggests that technology was a relatively late application of recursive principles, and not an obligate one. Lange, in contrast, is a human universal, and I suspect that theory of mind and mental time travel are too. I have argued in this book that the extension of recursive principles to manufacture and technology was made possible largely through changes in the way we communicate. Language evolved initially for the sharing of social and episodic information, and depended at first on mime, using bodily movements to convey meaning. Through conventionalization, communication became less mimetic and more abstract. In the course of time it retreated into the face, and eventually into the mouth, as late Homo gained voluntary control over voicing and the vocal tract, and the recursive ability to create infinite meaning through combinations of articulate sounds. This was an exercise in miniturization, releasing the rest of the body, as well as recursive principles, for manipluation of the physical environment.

Overall this was a nice, relatively basic book about the topics mentioned in its subtitle. I only wish its focus had been a little bit more on the recursivity, suggested in its main title, rather than the origins of human language, thought and civilization.

[Mikael Lind · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book hasn't got a single weak point, and I enjoyed reading it and learned a lot from it. However, its moments of great insight are also few, so in a way it's a very sensible book that isn't daring enough. The real interesting questions about humans and recursion are confined to the end of the last chapter, opening up far greater questions than the book tried to answer. But, what the hell, it's popular science, so in a way, the book has lived up to its promise in making me interested in digging deeper into this topic.

[James Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an unusually enjoyable book to read, especially since it is a level deeper than popular science --- it is very much a book that lays out a technical theory and seeks to both explain and justify it. Often such books can be dry and overly academic (a style that works better in an eight page paper than a 250 page book!) but Corballis is clearly one of those professors whose classes must be a pleasure to participate in.

I took a lot from this book and found it very stimulating. It pulls from wide-ranging fields to support the thesis and manages to do this in an engaging way that doesn't come across wishy-washy like this approach sometimes can. It is is fascinating area that I do a fair bit of reading on and this is definitely one of the better books to read.

The book is not without minor issues that shouldn't inhibit enjoying it. One of these is that the definition of recursive that is used seems a little different to that I was taught (which was more strictly that a function is defined in terms of itself) which I found distracting at times. The occasional meandering is generally enjoyable though I don't think that dismissive comments about religion are sensibly written in such a style. However this was more than made up for by the dry humour that comes from nowhere.

A great book is you want to read a moderately technical theory of thinking.

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a popular cognitive science book. The writing is ok but what grabbed me is the thesis the powers of recursion well known in computer science and less well known outside academic circles in linguistics is a key component of human cognition. My hunch is that it is the feature of the human mind that makes humans exceptional as a species it is defining trait that underlies much cognition outside of say our perceptual systems which good but definitely shared by other fine primate species. I will drop a video that might explain some of these features of recursion as it relates to human cognition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wO59...

[Thai · Rating 5 out of 5]

For someone who does not have a background on related subjects, namely psychology, anthropology, or linguistics, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. it's simple enough to read yet informative. for me, the book succeeds because it changes the way i think about daily communication (such marvel) and definitely raised my interest in history of languages and how people communicate and think.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only read the last half (the more important/interesting half?). Interesting theories, definitely agree on the significance of recursion as a "what makes us human" aspect. Well I figured that out before -- not exactly ground-breaking, but the book's quite thorough and solid for a popular book.

[Dave Schey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Corballis explores the origin of analytical thought in our early human ancestors. It starts with the development of language, the ability to share our ideas with others, and our ability to embed our thoughts within other thoughts. This probably happened 50-60,000 years ago.

[Alexi Parizeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ideas of this book could have easily been communicated in a single article. Still, Corballis' writting style was pleasant enough that I didn't mind having it in book length.

[Osman Başkaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. While reading it, I took some notes. It might not be the best (and well-organized) notes but you may find them useful: http://osmanbaskaya.github.io/2017/10...

[Haris Wahid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was very interesting and elightening about recursion. I've been fascinated with strange loops through self-reference since Douglas Hofstadter. Even though it was difficult to read and understand the first half of Godel Escher Bach, after reading this and because it has been some years maybe I should go back soon :D

[Atilla]

İlgi çekici önermeleri olan bir kitaptı. Ancak konu çok iyi toparlanamayıp zaman zaman odak noktasının dışına çıkılmış gibi geldi. Zaman zaman yazarın kendini tekrarladığı yerler de var. Yazar, çok önem atfettiği özyineleme konusunu daha çok detaylandırabilirdi. Yine de tüm bu eksi yönlerine rağmen okuyan kişinin ufkunu açabilecek bir kitap olduğunu düşünüyorum.

[Marlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

perspective changing

[Uyar · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read the turkish version...turkcesi kendini yineleyen zihin.. "ozyineleme = recursion" cok kafamda oturmayan bir kavram olmasina ragmen "kendini tekrarlama" olarak dusunulunce yazarin insan zihnin olusmasindaki temel farkliligin bu olmadina baglamasi ilgincti.. M Corbalis aslinda bir norobilimci ama kitapta biraz da anlasilir olmasini istedigi icin sanirim cok teferruata girmeden fikirlerini soyluyor ve bu da surekli tekrarlayarak anlatiyor ;).. temel dayanaklarindan biri dil ve ortaya cikisi uzerine.. cunku birkac bolumu buna ayirmis.. ama kitapta beyin, zaman kavramlari, hayvanlardaki ozellikler, zihin teorisi, genler ve evrim ozellikler de insan evrimi uzerine cok guzel bolumler var.... yine de kitabi biraz daginink buldum ve asil onermesi onyinelemeye fazla pozitif yaklasiyor.. ancak bu kitapdan ogrenilecek o kadar cok sey ve o kadar not edilecek yer var ki... turkceye kazandirildigi icin tesekkurler

[Roy Kenagy]

From the Publisher: http://bit.ly/u5elFl

"The Recursive Mind challenges the commonly held notion that language is what makes us uniquely human. In this compelling book, Michael Corballis argues that what distinguishes us in the animal kingdom is our capacity for recursion: the ability to embed our thoughts within other thoughts. "I think, therefore I am," is an example of recursive thought, because the thinker has inserted himself into his thought. Recursion enables us to conceive of our own minds and the minds of others. It also gives us the power of mental "time travel"--the ability to insert past experiences, or imagined future ones, into present consciousness"

[Indi_book · Rating 2 out of 5]

Libro que intenta presentar alguna tesis sobre los orígenes del lenguaje. Sin entrar a comentar la tesis en cuestión, que sospecho que no es falsable, diré que está bastante mal escrito y que no le hace sombra a un Gould o un Pinker.

[Sara Q]

Found from this review: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f...

[Mark]

Read a review in New Scientist - in diigo

[Mark Brewer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too boring. Stopped after 15%.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enlightening book about how humans evolved through language.

[José Angel Hernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thank Prof. Ganesh Devy for this recommendation. Fascinating read.